WRITTEN TESTIMONY

• Prepare written testimony in a document that clearly labels both who you are and what bill you’re testifying about ( 6647: An Act Concerning Geographic Information Systems)
• In the document itself, identify yourself, your involvement with GIS, and why you believe that the Committee should act favorably on this legislation
• Feel free to include personal touches or brief examples of the importance of GIS to your job and how the State would be better served by broad coordination
• Feel free to add in any recommendations about how important it is to properly empower, provide staff support, and funds for the Geographic Information Officer position
• Save the document as a PDF
• Email the testimony to: pdtestimony@cga.ct.gov, putting “Testimony in Favor of HB 6647” in the subject line
• Submit no later than Sunday, March 21, at 3:00 p.m

 

LIVE TESTIMONY

• Sign up to testify (register here)
• You will receive a personalized link confirming your invitation to testify.
• The day before the hearing, the Speaker Order will be posted on the hearing web page.
• The hearing will start at 10:00am, and the first hour is dedicated to elected officials’ testimony, so members of the public won’t start testifying until 11:00am at the earliest.
• Testimony is given by Speaker Order, not by bill order. Each speaker can testify on any bill on the agenda (or multiple bills).
• Each speaker is limited to THREE MINUTES of initial testimony. If any individual Committee members have follow-up questions, they can keep speakers there for much longer.
• If the speaker list is very long, the Chairman may limit the Q&A to five minutes per Committee member.
• It’s worth getting a sense of how controversial some bills are, because that could significantly delay people’s testimony. Sometimes, they only get through 3-5 speakers per hour on hot-button bills. If you’re able, depending on your number, you can let the stream run in the background and just check in occasionally on what speaker they’re up to. Or connect with a few people who are also waiting to testify so you can take turns paying attention and letting each other know if your time is coming up.
• When it is close to your turn, the Committee clerk will turn on your camera and allow you to unmute your microphone.
• The Chairman will call on you when it’s your turn.
• It’s good etiquette to thank Chairman McCarthy Vahey, Chairman Cassano, Ranking Members, and Members of the Committee for allowing you to share your testimony at the beginning.
• Identify yourself, the bill you’re testifying on (HB 6647), and launch into your overview. Remember you only have three minutes, so be direct and specific.
• At the end, thank them again and indicate that you’re happy to answer questions. Committee members may engage you – be polite and resolute.